Apparatus for and method of refrigeration



June 4, 1929.

c. A. KoHL APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF REFRIGERATION Filed Feb. 22, 19262 Sheets-Sheet June 4, 1929. c. A. KoHL APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OFREFRIGERATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lll/4 apddnnradnannunm 4 J, d 47,11 f 5Jfr w b O. 2m w 0 33 9m 6 6g /1 l l i a LL- a. m 2

Patented `lune 4, 1929.

UNITED CHARLES A. KOHL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR T ST. LOUISBUTCHERS SUP- PLY CO., OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OFMISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF REFRIGERATION.

Application led February-22, 1926. Serial No. 89,825.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for and method ofrefrigeration, and has for its primary object an artificialrefrigeration apparatus which is so4 constructed that, by the sprayingof a nonfreezing solution through passageways, the air within arefrigerator is circulated rapidly and chilled thereby maintaining auniform relatively low temperature throughout the refrigerator. Myapparatus and method can be used in coolers, refrigerators of all typesand sizes, in stores and restaurants, and also in household or similarrefrigerators.

A further object is the method of refrigeration whereby the air within arefrigerator can be rapidly circulated and chilled, the humidity of theair being thereby regulated so that it will not contain too muchmoisture or too little, with a consequent result that the food stuffsstored in the refrigerator either become too soggy or dry out, and bycausing the rapid circulation of air in the refrigerator, thetemperature therein is uniform throughout so that there will be no spotsor islands within the refrigerator in which the temperature is very muchhigher than in the remainder of the refrigerator.

A still further object is to construct an apparatus with artificialrefrigeration which is .so constructed that the air circulating meansand the vrefrigerating unit are separately and independently operatedand controlled automatically so that the temperature of the refrigeratorcan be maintained substantially constant at all times and Without theexcessive use of refrigeration.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of my device taken on the line 1 1 of Fig.2;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; i

Fig. 5 vis an enlarged vertical section of one of the air circulatingducts taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a view showing a modified form of air duct.

In the construction of my device I employ a refrigerator comprising acasing having sides 8, a front 9, a back 10, a bottom 11, and a top 12.The front and top are preferably provided with sheets of plate glasswhich are spaced apart so as to leave air space in between. This permitsthe articles within the refrigeratorto be readily seen. The rear wall 10is provided with service doors 13 through which articles can be placedin and removed from the lower portion of the refrigerator while the top12 is provided with sliding doors 14 for a similar purpose. Extendingacross the refrigerator is a partition 15 which divides the refrigeratorinto the compartments 16 and 17. Located on the floor 11 is a container18 which is designed to hold a non-freezing solution, preferably saltwater or brine. This is commercially known among the trade as a sweetpickle. The rear and side walls, as well as the doors 14, are madehollow and the space therein may be either left with an air space or itmay be filled in With heat insulating material, such as cork, mineralwool, asbestos and the like. Located at a short distance above thecontainer 18 are a plurality of removable sections 19'. These sectionsare preferably made hollow and of sheet metal and are filled withfibrous material 20, such as asbestos or the like so as to insulate theinterior of the box from the cold and moisture contained in thecontainer 18 and also to serve as a floor. p

Extending upwardly from the rear of the brine pan or container 18 andpreferably located in the wall 10 are a plurality of air circulatingducts 21 whichare provided immediately above the sections 19 with aplurality of openings or louvres 22. These louvres extend into the duct,the reason for which will be explained in detail later. The upper endsof the ducts are left open as indicated by the numeral 23 and the frontWalls thereof are also provided with openings 24 adjacent the open end.Extending into the container and adjacent the rear wall is a pipe 25which is provided with a plurality of stand pipes 2G, one of theseIpipes extending upward in each of the air circulating ducts. Secured tothe upper end of the stand pipes 26 is an L 27 through which a nipple 28is secured. This nipple carries a valve 29 to which a spray nozzle 30 isattached by means of a nipple 31. This spray nozzle may be of any type.which will cause a liquid to issue therefrom 1n the form of a spray butin practice I prefer to use a nozzle which will cause a whirling sprayto issue, similar to the spray from an automatic fire sprinkler and, asthe various spray nozzles which I may employ can be bought in the openmarket, the details of construction thereof are not shown.

The pipe 25 is connected to the discharge end of a pump 32 which ispreferably of the centrifu al type. Connected to the suction end of tIiepump 32 is a pipe 33 which has its end 34 terminating in the container18 at approximately midway its ends and adjacent the front wall thereof.The reason of this construction is to cause the brine or non-freezingliquid within the container 18 to circulate more fully and freelybecause the brine, which has been passed through the pump, is dischargedinto the container along its rear wall and by withdrawing the brineadjacent the front wall and the center of the tank or container, Iobtain a much more thorough circulation of the brine within thecontainer. 35 represents a compressor 1n which a refrigerant is to becompressed. This compressor is driven by means of a motor 36. The motoralso drives a fan 37 by means of which the cooling or condensing coil 38is cooled. The cooling coil 38 is connected to an expander 39 by meansof a pipe 40. This expander is located in the container 18 and 1sdesigned to be submerged in the brine. Extending from the expander 39are a plurality of pipes 41, which pipes terminate in a header 42. Theheader 42 is in turn connected to a pipe 43 by means of which theexpanded refrigerant is again drawn back to the compressor to berecompressed. 44 represents an automatic switch, the operation of whichis controlled by the amount of pressure generated in the compressor andwhen this reaches a certain predetermined point, the switch isautomatically operated and breaks the electric circuit, stopping theoperation of lthe compresser until the pressure has again dropped whenthe circult is again automatically closed and the compressor started.

The pump 32 is driven by means of a motor 45. Ihe operation of thismotor is controlled by means of a thermostat 46 mounted within therefrigerator and by this means the temperature within the refrigeratoris controlled because when the brine pump stops, there Will be nofurther forced circulation of air within the refrigerator and theinterior of the refrigerator being insulated from the container 18 willnot become chilled .thereby so that the air will commence to warm upbut, upon a predetermined rise of temperature within Lthe container, thebrine pump is automatically started, the air again circulated andchilled as will be hereinafter described until the desired lowtemperature has been reached when the pump will againautomatically ceaseits operation.

The partition 15 is provided adjacent its front end with one or moreopenings 47 which are preferably covered with reticulated material orscreen so as to permit a free circulation of air. This circulation isshown by means of the arrows in Fig. 2. In Fig. 7 I have shown amodified form of refrigerator in which a fiat top 49 is used. In thisinstance the suction end of the air circulating ducts opens through therear Wall 10 into the interior of the container as indicated by thenumeral 50. This type of air duct is used for, what is commerciallyknown as, display counter refrigerators. I do not, however, desire tolimit myself to any particular type of refrigerator because, aspreviously stated, my method may be practiced in any style ofrefrigerator or cooler by merely altering the position and size of thevarious air circulating parts and, of course, governing the size of thecompressor or refrigerating unit, and pump according to the amount ofrefrigeration required and the rapidity and amount of brine circulated.

It is also my intention to control the operation of the refrigeratingunit by means of a thermostat 36 immersed in the brine therebycontrolling the brine temperature. This specific control construction,however, is not shown as it can be accomplished by Various devices, thespecific construction of which forms no part of my invention and,therefore, is not shown nor will it be described in detail as the samecan be installed by any mechanic versed in the art.

The operation of my device is as follows: After the refrigerator hasbeen installed, the iirst step is to charge the container 18 with anon-freezing solution preferably a mixture of salt and water forming abrine which is commercially known as a sweet pickle. The refrigeratingunit is also supplied with a suitable amount of refrigerant which, uponbeing compressed and expanded, will have a tendency to lower thetemperature of the brine. After both the refrigerating unit and thecontainer have been properly charged, the refrigerating unit is placedin operation and its first function will be to compress the refrigerantand discharge it into the condensing coil 38. The refrigerant therein isthen cooled in any suitable manner, for instance by means of the fan 37as illustrated. From there it passes into thefexpander 39 where itexpands and in so doing loses its temperature or rather the temperatureat which it enters the expander. It then enters the coils 41 and passesinto the header 42 from whence it is again withlll) drawn through thepipe 43 to the compressor where it is again recompressed. This expandingaction of the refrigerant will lower its temperature considerabl and inso doing and in passing through the pipes 41 and header 42, thetemperature of these pipes or coils and header are reduced andconsequently they will absorb heat from the brine or non-freezingsolution within the container 18 thus lowering its temperature. Thislowering of temperature is continued until a predetermined temperatureof the non-freezing. lsolution has been reached, which is regulated bymeans of the thermostat as previously pointed out. After the brine hasbeen cooled to a certain degree, the motor 45 is placed in operationcausing the circulating pump 32 to commence circulating the brine. Assoon as this pum starts, brine or non-freezing solution 1s drawn intothe intake 34, through the pipe 33 and delivered to the pump 32. Fromthence it is discharged into the pipe 25 and from there into the standpipes 26, passing upward through the pipe connections and beingdischarged in a downwardly directed spray through the air circulatingducts 2l. The brine thus discharged is under considerable pressure andat a high rate of speed, and in traveling downward the natural affinityof the air within the container to moisture and also the friction of thedownwardly directed spray with the air in the ducts cause the air totravel downwardly. This has a tendency to exhaust the air from the upperportion of the refrigerator and'in so doing creates a partial vacuum.This in turn causes the air adjacent the bottom of the refrigerator torise upwardly to replace the air thus withdrawn. This rising of air inturn creates a artial vacuum in the bottom of the refrigerator thusdrawing the air out through the louvres so that a complete circulationof air is obtained by this means. The air passing downward through theair ducts is reduced in tem erature by being brought in contact withtiie Aspray of cold brine or non-freezing solution and consequentlypasses out from the louvres at a greatly reduced temperature to thatwhich it entered the ducts at the top and by reason of being thuscirculated a uniform temperyature throughout the refrigerator isobtained. v

It will be noted from the drawings that the air ducts are spaced apartalong the rear wall of the refrigerator and in this manner it ispossible to achieve an equal circulation and cooling effect throughoutthe length of the same thus eliminating any warm spotsv or islands.

When the desired degree of coldness has been reached in therefrigerator, the thermostat 46 will automatically cut out the operationof the motor 45 thus stopping the pump and halting any furthercirculation of air until such time as the temperature within therefrigerator rises above a predetermined degree but during this time,that is either the operation or the halting of the brine pump, the motor36, which operates the refrigerating unit, continues to operate untilthe temperature of the brine, which is preferably colder than that ofthe refrigerator, reaches a predetermined degree when it is shut offuntil by means of a thermostat- 36a' a sweet pickle, for thenon-freezing solution for the reason that it is believed that, by thissweet pickle or salt brine coming in contact with the air, it willproduce a saline atmosphere in the refrigerator which `will have atendency to keep the cut or trimmed surfaces of meat food stuffs bright.This is an essential feature because ordinarily meat, which has beencut, dulls on the outer or exposed face and necessitates the trimming orcutting away of the face so that the bright meat will appear but by theuse of my system or method, this dulling will be obviated and without inany way conflicting with the pure food'laws of the various States orGovernment, as no chemicals are made use of to maintain the brightnessof the cut meat and by reason of using a liquid to circulate the air asufficient amount of moisture will be absorbed by the air to prevent itfrom absorbing juices from any food articles stored in the refrigeratorthus obviating shrinkage but at the same time the air will be dry enoughnot to cause the food articles to become soggy.

My apparatus will, therefore, keep food stuffs in practically a perfectcondition, not only in regard to appearance but also in regard to theloss of weight and by reason of the saline air distributed throughoutthe refrigerator, a preserving effect will be had on the food stuffs sothat they will not deteriorate near as rapidly as in refrigerators ofthe ordinary construction.

In other words the cooling and circulation of the air within therefrigerator is achieved by means of high speed, downwardly directedsprays of a prechilled or cooled solution within ducts which are openadjacent their tops and bottoms to the air within a refrigerator.

It will also be noted from Figs. 5 and G that the lower ends of theducts 21 extend a distance into the container 18 so that they will beimmersed in the nonfreezing solution thereby preventing the escape ofair into the container 18.

Having fully described my invention,

what I claim iszl. A device of the class described comprising arefrigerator, a partition located therein for dividing said refrigeratorinto an upper and a lower compartment, an air passage formed throughsaid partition, a container adapted to contain a non-freezing solutionlocated in the bottom of said lower compartment, a floor located abovesaid container, a duct extending upward from said container andterminating in the upper compartment, said duct also havingcommunication with the lower' compartment above the floor, means forchilling s aid non-freezing solution, and means for circulating saidchilled solution, said circulating means including means for sprayingsaid solution downwardly through said duct whereby air in therefrigerator is circulated and chilled.

2. A devlce of the class described comprising a refrigerator, apartition located compartment, a floor located above said container, aduct located at the rear of the refrigerator and extending upward fromsaid container, said duct terminating in the upper compartment and alsohaving communication with the lower compartment above the floor, meanslocated within said container for chilling said non-freezing solution,means for supplying a refrigerant to said chilling means, and means forcir'culating said chilled solution, said circulating means includingmeans for forcibly sprayin said solution downward through said ductwhereby air in the refrigerator is circulated and during its circulationchilled by said spray of non-freezing solution.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

CHARLES A. KOHL.

